The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of geranium botanically known as Pelargonium zonale, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name `Neila`.
`Neila` is a product of planned breeding program which had the objective of creating new geranium cultivars with rose flower color, semi-double flower form, dark foliage, early flower response.
`Neila` was originated from a hybridization made in a controlled breeding program in Hagenbach, Germany, in 1990. The female parent was `Rica`, characterized by its pink flower color, semi-double flower form, and light green foliage. `Rica`, which is available from Elsner PAC, is distinct from `Neila` in that `Neila` has darker foliage and a different flower color. The male parent of `Neila` was `Unica`, characterized by its salmon-pink flower color, semi-double flower form, dark foliage without zonation, late flower response. `Unica`, which is no longer commercially available, differs from `Neila` in that `Neila` shows an earlier flower response, has a slight leaf zonation, is more compact, and has a different flower color.
Neila` was discovered and selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross by the inventors in Aug. 1992 in a controlled environment in Hagenbach, Germany.